The White House is to appoint a former diplomat to oversee post-war Iraq, raising questions over the role of retired US army general, Mr Jay Garner, who was chosen before the war by the Pentagon to carry out this task.
A US official said yesterday that diplomat Mr Paul Bremer (61), a former counter-terrorism director in the Reagan administration, will be named next week to direct the selection of the transitional government in Baghdad.
The appointment appears to be an attempt by President Bush to resolve the bitter rivalry between the State Department and the Pentagon over the post-war running of Iraq.
Mr Garner is a conservative and close to the Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, but the State Department has been pressing for a civilian administrator to avoid any perception that the interim government will be a puppet of the American military.
The issue may still be the subject of internal wrangling.
Mr Rumsfeld, reacting to agency reports of the appointment of Mr Bremer, issued a curt statement saying: "Jay Garner is doing a truly outstanding job for the nation. Any suggestion to the contrary is flat untrue and mischievous." Mr Rumsfeld, who is on his way back to Washington after visiting Iraq and Afghanistan, added: "The White House has made no announcement regarding other appointments."
The reports say Mr Bush will put Mr Bremer in charge of the transition team in Iraq which includes Mr Garner and Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, the special White House envoy in the Persian Gulf.
Britain and the Arab states have been to the forefront in putting pressure on Washington to put a more civilian face on the US formation of an interim authority which will run some of the country's government departments until a constitution is agreed and elections held.
The New York Times reported that the decision was so sensitive that officials were considering letting Mr Rumsfeld make the announcement when he returned to make it look like a Pentagon initiative. The Washington Post said Mr Garner would retain responsibility for re-establishing Iraq's infrastructure and public services, while Mr Khalilzad would continue to lead negotiations with Iraqi political leaders.
The Defence Department has been in overall charge of the operation up to now, even to the extent of airlifting Mr Ahmed Chalabi, a leader of the Iraqi National Congress, into Iraq shortly after the US-led invasion, over objections of the State Department.
Mr Bremer has served as ambassador to several countries and has worked for Mr Henry Kissinger's consultancy firm. He currently heads a crisis consulting company.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, assured Congress this week that while the US was playing a major role in Baghdad, it sought to turn over control of the country to Iraqis as soon as possible.
In his address to the nation on Thursday evening announcing the end of major combat operation in Iraq, Mr Bush said: "Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave and we will leave behind a free Iraq."
From the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific, he said the US was helping to rebuild Iraq "and we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by and for the Iraqi people". Mr Bush warned that the transition from dictatorship to democracy "will take time, but it is worth every effort".